Book Review of The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

 

Name of Book: The Monsters We Defy 

Author: Leslye Penelope 

ISBN: 9780316378024

Publisher: Redhook 

Type of book: Washington DC, 1925, African-American culture, spirit world, ghosts, Enigmas, tricks and treats, trust, hidden secrets, drag balls, discovering culture and knowledge, history 

Year it was published: 2022

Summary:

A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

Washington D. C., 1925

Clara Johnson talks to spirits, a gift that saved her during her darkest moments in a Washington D. C. jail. Now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So, when the Empress, the powerful spirit who holds her debt, offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, a desperate Clara seizes the chance. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.

Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need help from an unlikely team, from a jazz musician capable of hypnotizing with a melody to an aging vaudeville actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they encounter increasingly difficult obstacles, a dangerous spirit interferes at every turn. Conflict in the spirit world is leaking into the human one and along D.C’.s legendary Black Broadway, a mystery unfolds—one that not only has repercussions for Clara but all of the city’s residents.

Characters:

The three main characters would be Clara Johnson, a young woman who is seen as something of a heroine in her community. She is simply trying to get by and trying to help people out by using her spiritual powers. Zelda is Clara's friend,  an woman who is an albino and who used to work at a circus. She sees Clara as someone she needs to protect and becomes involved with a heist just because she cares for Clara rather than a payback. Israel Lee is a talented musician who has made pact with one of the ghosts "Enigmas" namely The Man in Black who gave him musical talent, but at the same time cursed Israel Lee with the fact no one sees him as a person. The other characters would be Aristotle, an aging actor who can become anyone he desires, but if he doesn't act he is often invisible, and then Jesse Lee who manipulates memory but his curse would be that his true love is unable to remember him. 

Theme:

Don't give up, work around the problem

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative, perhaps 95 percent of it from Clara Johnson's point of view. For the curious readers, there are mini chapters that explain the backgrounds of the people she chooses to help her with heist and Clara's background is filled in, which is very intriguing, and I do wish that the real life Clara Johnson also had a good ending too. The tale also explains about Clara's spiritual powers and how the spiritual world works. We also see the African-American hierarchy at work in the novel too, especially who is considered "beautiful" and who is seen as "ugly." I loved that one of the characters has albinism because it gives it an outsider theme. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Leslye Penelope also writes as L. Penelope. She is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance.

Opinion:

It took me awhile to fall in love with the novel, but in the end I found that the novel did capture my heart and it has expanded my knowledge a whole lot. In a lot of ways I was very pleasantly surprised by THE MONSTERS WE DEFY. For one thing I appreciated that the author explained about the spirit world in the book, especially for those readers who aren't familiar with it. I also appreciated the focus on friendships and on difficulties Clara experienced when it comes to trust. I think I would have liked a bit more scenes between Clara and one of the characters, at least to help me believe in why she develops feelings for him. I also wanted to see more of the characters like Zelda, Jesse Lee and Aristotle. But yes, a very brilliant novel. 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)